Padgett Stratemann is now RMSAs San Antonio becomes a bigger player in Texas Business, more national firms are entering this market. A national firm does not start from zero. RMS (http://rsmus.com/) purchased Padgett. This gives the buyer a large client base to start with. Typically the local partners have made a handsome profit on their time at the firm. But seeking to recoup the investment, the buyer typically raises fees knowing some business will be lost. RMS has re located from North Loop 410 to 1604 and 281. Renee Foshee, a tax expert with the firm, is the current SA CPA Society President.

Turner Cleveland PCTerry Cleveland has addressed our students. Two of our graduates are employed with at this firm.

Ridout Barrett CPAsTony Ridout has visited and addressed our students many times. We have placed graduates with Ridout for several years.

Financial Consulting Firms

Aventine Hill Partners, Inc.Beth Hair CEO founded Aventine in San Antonio in 2009. The firm now has offices in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston. She formerly was with RGP.

Resource Global ProfessionalsSusan Hough has been to campus and spoken to our students. She is the San Antonio Manager of RGP. RGP and Aventine are not CPA firms. Instead they offer contract specialists for firms needing specific tasks such as compliance or Controllerships.

Accounting Information

Acounting Today This is an independent site for accounting news regarding firms and current issues.

Accounting Certifications

Certified Information Systems Auditor CISANow that everything is literally on the computer and cyber security becomes a prominent issue, I see more and more accounting professionals with this designation. Previously known as the Information Systems and Audit Control Association, it now goes by the acronym ISACA.

Geo Politics

Institute for the Study of WarThe Institute for the Study of War advances an informed understanding of military affairs through reliable research, trusted analysis, and innovative education. We are committed to improving the nation’s ability to execute military operations and respond to emerging threats in order to achieve U.S. strategic objectives. ISW is a non-partisan, non-profit, public policy research organization.

StratforThis Austin, TX based site was begun by an ex Texas State Professor.

September 30, 2012

This is the true headline but one you will never see in the Express News. Apparently few to none of our students read the local paper. If there were truth in advertising the name would not be the Express News but the Castro Cheerleader. Opinion articles are supposed to be on the opinion page with news articles on the front pages. News would should be unbiased. Opinion articles on local politicians hold hold their feet to the fire, ask tough questions, demand answers in defense of proposals.

When I was at UT Austin in the 1960s and 1970s the Daily Texan was an independent newspaper. It questioned everything the administration did. The Administration hated it of course but it was there for all to see and examine.

Instead the Express news leads with puff pieces (today's title, the Sons Also Rise) slavishly praising the Castro Brothers. I frankly can't tell that either has any particular accomplishment. They did graduate from Stanford and harvard . (This would be in contrast to lots of others in San Antonio that work for a living re-upholstering furniture and car interiors for example, you know the ones that did not go to Harvard or Stanford).

So to establish a track record, your Mayor actually managed to find an approved tax which is not maxed out. The sales tax is approved up to 8.75% but now stands at 8.5%. On the presumption that college students are not paying enough taxes, the Mayor proposed to increase the sales tax to the max of 8.75%. This will only cost about $7.50 per household. Yes and a speeding ticket now only costs $186 to support the local City Management Team.

The City Manager makes $355,000 , did you know that? More on that here. Good work if you can get I say, more than the City manger in Dallas or Los Angeles. By the way in a Manger Council form of government the City Manager does the heavy lifting and managing, the Mayor is a figurehead who presides at ceremonies and promotes the city.

But I digress. The express purpose of this tax increase is to haul your four year old out ofyour house and into the local school system. The idea is that this will help them get started for that tough grind that lays ahead, kindergarten.

There has not been a single article or interview but there have been some letters comparing this to the 50 year history of a similar progarm, Head Start. After fifty hears of Head Start, test scores are lower not higher and there is no particular outcome which can be shown.

Of course if this passes years from now when information regarding outcomes might be available, you can bet the Mayor will have gone on to higher office, unaccountable for what happened. But of course that tax will still be in place. By the way I was upset by the tax increase from Bush I which retroactively changed the law such that he snatched $75,000 out of my IRA, just in case anyone thinks I am aiming at one party over another here. Seventy five grand may not have been much to the Bushes but around my house that is real money. I don't like tax increase schemes from either party.

Here is an alternate idea.

I have a dream. My dream is that sales taxes will be eliminated. A once a year sales tax holiday results in huge demand and sales on that weekend before school starts when all rush to avoid the tax. Why not make that an everyday event?

America existed for hundreds of years with no sales taxes, and a lot less government. Exactly what would a four year old learn in this tax supported class anyway? How to color, paint, and possibly begin reading or counting.? My Grandad ivy Lee Elam taught me the mearning of the word circumference when I was five years old, not bad for the age. He had a story bout a couple visiing the circus. The outline of the elephant's foot made a circle. The distance around that circles as the length or circumference. A good story then, a good story today.

If in fact this is a great idea, I propose the Sr Teacher Volunteer Team. Retired teachers, business leaders and such would volunteer to read to young children at public libraries during certain hours. Handily the library is full of books for just that purpose. Who knows they might even meet in your garage in your neighborhood where you yourself could watch over them. Team Volunteers would receive plaques for their efforts. I am betting there are plenty of retirees and interested grandparents who would engage in such an activity.

Sales taxes would decrease one point a year. After nine years the city would have had time to throttle back on spending, and such. College students would be 8.5% better off on every purchase they made. By the way when the sales tax was first passed the promise was that it would never exceed1%.

Has anyone asked the Mayor if he would like to raise that tax over 9%, once it maxes at 8.75, how will he finance the next grand scheme? What do you think?

Women have increasingly entered the work force as the tax burden at all levels has risen higher and higher. Higher Property taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes, medicare taxes, increased social security taxes are upon us. And a host of new taxes to kick in next year. The great irony is that the government then demands more taxes to take care of your kids since they taxed you to the point you had to leave them to go to work to support the government.

In my dream Mom gets to stay home and raise her children. Mom takes her four year old to the library and reads to her or him. Or perhaps Moms organize neighborhood Reading Teams that take place in their own neighborhoods, forget the school bus.

The Mayor likes it the other way, you work, you pay taxes, your child is day cared by a stranger.

I report, you decide, which is the better scheme, zero taxes with you in charge or 8.75% with a stranger in charge? Of your four year old that is.....

We have numerous Moms at TAMUSA, what is your take on this?

One last point. At age 38 with degrees from a couple of the best regarded universities in the US, surely the Castro Brothers can start looking out for themselves without front page coverage to bolster their campaigns. Tucked away on page B3 is a story about two local characters named Rosca and Jet who are in serious need of help. There are 26 dogs at the Animal Friends Humane Society. looking for homes.

Animal Friends is a no kill shelter working to find homes for deserving dogs. If the Express news really wants to help someone, how about putting Rosca, Jet, and Redmond on the front page?

If this post gets me in hot water, well so be it. I mean you aren't paying enough sales tax, right?

I highlighted the Skyscraper Theory in my address to the Structural Engineers State Meeting this past Friday. Expansive social mood leads to expansive projects. These are usually planned near the top of an economic boom. The problem is that the building then opens during the following downturn. The Empire State Bldg was built from 1928-1930 but then opened in the worst real estate market ever in the early 1930s.

An article in the Express News this morning offers more convincing evidence of the theory. The iconic Tower Life Building in downtown opened June 1, 1929. The Majestic Theater opened two weeks later on June 14. the first feature was Follies of 1929, a fitting title for the top and then crash to come that October.

Marion Koogler McNay's home was just being finished at this time, it would open to expansive parties held as the economy tanked in the early 1930s.

After opening at the very top of the market in 1929, the Majestic would close for several years near the very bototm of the 1974 marklet which took the Dow Industrials to 577. It was re born in 1989 after the 1987 crash with a $4.5 M renovation.

Just this past week the one kilometer tall Kingdom Tower was announced in Saudi Arabia. It will cost billions if indeed it is finished by 2018. Such audacity only occurs near market tops when people feel emboldened by years of economic expansion.

September 27, 2012

Understand that I have no financial relationship wiht the Gleim organization. I used their materials successfullywhen I passed the CPA exam on my first attempt.

Gleim is offering an opportunity to become their campus rep here at TAMUSA. And they are asking that the person selected participate in the IMA student leadership conference that I have previously mentioned.

Details are below, contact Justin and myself,just e mail the both of us, as indicated with your interest. I rate this as an excellent opportunity to begin familiarizing yourself with certified exams.

Gleim Opportunity Follows

We are looking for a student who is interested in taking the CPA, CMA, or CIA exams to work along side a Gleim employee at the IMA's 13th Annual Student Leadership Conference in San Antonio this coming November. We would also like that student to do some campus representative type activities next semester (Spring 2013). These activities include hanging posters and handing out promotional materials to your fellow students. The dates and other pertinent information is listed below. This is a greatopportunity for you to network with other accounting students, CMAs, CPAs, and leaders of IMA.

If you are able to work the hours on both days listed below and would like to complete some campus rep duties for Gleim next semester, please let me know right away.

September 26, 2012

I am re printing the mesasge from Amanda Talaat at SA CPA. If you have signed up to attend Career Night this Friday but really do not intend to be there, please contact Amanda and release your RSVP. IT would be very embarassing to TAMUSA if you signed up and do not show up.

Dear SACPAS Faculty Reps,

Please let your students know that we have completely maxed out of seats, food and every square inch of space for Friday night’s Fall Accounting Careers Workshop. If a student really wants to come, I can add his/her name to the waiting list; he/she can contact me on Friday to find out if we have had any cancellations, but we are unable to accept any more students for this event at this time.

Thanks in advance for your assistance in getting the word out. If a student does show up and is not on the list, he/she will be asked to wait or be turned away. I would hate for that to happen.

September 25, 2012

The university is trying to hire tutors for Business Stat, Accounting, Economics and Finance. The tutors will be housed at Brooks. However, Student Life and Wellness Services don’t have any applicants for business stats, accounting or economics or finance. There is a job posting in JaguarJobs for the tutor positions at https://tamusa-csm.symplicity.com/students/. If you know any student who is willing and able to tutor any or all of the subjects, ask them to apply for the position or you can refer them to Jolene at Student Life office at Studentlife@tamusa.tamus.edu or 784-1336.

You may or may not recall that Foxcomm had to put bars on the windows of the worker dormitories to stop them from jumping to their deaths. After that spate of suicides, the latest is a simple riot. Since this is in China it is good sized riot but just that.

The upshot of this is that more companies are coming back to the US. The overall advantage of being abroad is disappearing. We are seeing a good deal of that here in San Antonio. MOre firms are taking advantage of Brook and Kelly to repair or remanufacture.

September 23, 2012

From your perspective, what are the chances of all this happening. Did you see the article on taxing gold and silver. Is any of that new?

100 Days Until Taxmageddon

Sunday will mark the start of the 100-day countdown to “Taxmageddon” – the date thelargest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect. They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves on January 1, 2013:

First Wave: Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief

In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for small business owners, families, and investors (later re-upped by President Obama and Democrat Congress in 2010). The following tax hikes will occur on January 1, 2013:

Personal income tax rates will rise on January 1, 2013. The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which the majority of small business profits are taxed). The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent. All the rates in between will also rise. Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates. The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:

-The 10% bracket rises to a new and expanded 15%

-The 25% bracket rises to 28%

-The 28% bracket rises to 31%

-The 33% bracket rises to 36%

-The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%

Higher taxes on marriage and family coming on January 1, 2013. The “marriage penalty” (narrower tax brackets for married couples) will return from the first dollar of taxable income. The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child. The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level.

Middle Class Death Tax returns on January 1, 2013. The death tax is currently 35% with an exemption of $5 million ($10 million for married couples). For those dying on or after January 1 2013, there is a 55 percent top death tax rate on estates over $1 million. A person leaving behind two homes and a retirement account could easily pass along a death tax bill to their loved ones.

Higher tax rates on savers and investors on January 1, 2013. The capital gains tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 23.8 percent in 2013. The top dividends tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 43.4 percent in 2013. This is because of scheduled rate hikes plus Obamacare’s investment surtax.

Second Wave: Obamacare Tax Hikes

There are twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare. Some have already gone into effect (the tanning tax, the medicine cabinet tax, the HSA withdrawal tax, W-2 health insurance reporting, and the “economic substance doctrine”). Several more will go into effect on January 1, 2013. They include:

The Obamacare Medical Device Tax begins to be assessed on January 1, 2013. Medical device manufacturers employ 409,000 people in 12,000 plants across the country. This law imposes a new 2.3% excise tax on gross sales – even if the company does not earn a profit in a given year. Exempts items retailing for <$100.

The Obamacare Medicare Payroll Tax Hike takes effect on January 1, 2013. The Medicare payroll tax is currently 2.9 percent on all wages and self-employment profits. Starting in 2013, wages and profits exceeding $200,000 ($250,000 in the case of married couples) will face a 3.8 percent rate.

The Obamacare “Special Needs Kids Tax” comes online on January 1, 2013. Imposes a cap on FSAs of $2500 (now unlimited). Indexed to inflation after 2013. There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children. There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States, and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education. Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington, D.C. (National Child Research Center) can easily exceed $14,000 per year. Under tax rules, FSA dollars can be used to pay for this type of special needs education. This Obamacare cap harms these families.

The Obamacare “Haircut” for Medical Itemized Deductions goes into force on January 1, 2013. Currently, those facing high medical expenses are allowed a deduction for medical expenses to the extent that those expenses exceed 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI). The new provision imposes a threshold of 10 percent of AGI. Waived for 65+ taxpayers in 2013-2016 only.

Third Wave: The Alternative Minimum Tax and Employer Tax Hikes

When Americans prepare to file their tax returns in January of 2013, they’ll be in for a nasty surprise—the AMT won’t be held harmless, and many tax relief provisions will have expired. These tax increases will be in force for BOTH 2012 and 2013. The major items include:

The AMT will ensnare over 31 million families, up from 4 million last year. According to the left-leaning Tax Policy Center, Congress’ failure to index the AMT will lead to an explosion of AMT taxpaying families—rising from 4 million last year to 31 million. These families will have to calculate their tax burdens twice, and pay taxes at the higher level. The AMT was created in 1969 to ensnare a handful of taxpayers.

Full business expensing will disappear. In 2011, businesses can expense half of their purchases of equipment. Starting on 2013 tax returns, all of it will have to be “depreciated” (slowly deducted over many years).

Taxes will be raised on all types of businesses. There are literally scores of tax hikes on business that will take place. The biggest is the loss of the “research and experimentation tax credit,” but there are many, many others. Combining high marginal tax rates with the loss of this tax relief will cost jobs.

Tax Benefits for Education and Teaching Reduced. The deduction for tuition and fees will not be available. Tax credits for education will be limited. Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses. Coverdell Education Savings Accounts will be cut. Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed. The student loan interest deduction will be disallowed for hundreds of thousands of families.

Charitable Contributions from IRAs no longer allowed. Under current law, a retired person with an IRA can contribute up to $100,000 per year directly to a charity from their IRA. This contribution also counts toward an annual “required minimum distribution.” This ability will no longer be there.

The dream of flight goes back to Icarus and the Greeks. Remember those photos of folks in the plane experiencing weightless ness?
Well apparently this is popular among our canine friends as well.
Is there anything as satisfying as watching someone else, particularly a dog, have fun.

September 22, 2012

The latest Eva Peron wannabe, President Kirchner, had adopted policies which have brought the Argentine Economy to a dead halt. The Socialist fervor that has done the same for Venezuela has gone South.

Couple this with the 3.5 year low in the Shanghai Index

President Hollande in France is working a similar disaster. Portugal revolts at the idea of further austerity. The economies across North Africa weren't much but they are less now. The WSJ Weekend reports that Pension Crisis Looms across the state Despite Cuts.

Here semi conductor stocks are dropping. The Dow Utilities and Transports have not confirmed the new high in the industrials. The pool of those simply giving up looking for work grows. Forty Seven Million are on food stamps, and this is at Dow 13,000+. Let the Dow drop three thousand and see what happens.

All of which is to say, this is the world that awaits your graduation. I suggest you study cost volume profit and break even closely, you may be working for yourself whether you want to or not.